DEFENDING champion Ateneo moved on the cusp of a first round sweep, while University of the Philippines seized solo second in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Blue Eagles flipped the switch in the third quarter to repulse a surprisingly tough University of the East, 94-72, extending their pandemic-interrupted remarkable winning streak to 32 games.

Zavier Lucero scored 11 of his season-high 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Fighting Maroons reasserted their mastery of La Salle, 61-59, in an entertaining matinee game.

UP continued its rise to a season-opening loss to Ateneo to improve to 5-1. The Archers, who suffered their second defeat in six games, fell to third place.

In the second game, National University held University of Santo Tomas to nine points in the third quarter to hammer out a 82-51 win and secure fourth spot with a 3-3 card.

The Eagles shoot for a seven-game sweep of the first round with a victory over the Growling Tigers in a rematch of the league’s most recent Finals in 2019 at 4 p.m. tomorrow.

For the first time this season, Ateneo entered the second half without a lead in a game which was supposed to be a cakewalk.

Gian Mamuyac suddenly came on fire, dropping 13 of his points in the pivotal third quarter as the Eagles erased a 51-53 deficit to erect a 65-55 lead.

Naturalized center Ange Kouame had 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season Ateneo.

The Red Warriors, who missed suspended coach Jack Santiago for the second straight match, never recovered from there and remained winless in the tournament at 0-6.

Lucero, who also grabbed 14 rebounds, matched La Salle’s entire fourth quarter output, highlighted by a poster slam on Justine Baltazar at the 5:48 mark that wowed the good-sized late morning crowd at the Pasay venue.

It was Lucero’s putback in the final 1:48 that shattered the game’s final deadlock at 59-59.

The Archers could not catch a break down the stretch, as a missed lay-up by Mike Phillips at the buzzer allowed the Maroons to escape with the victory.

“I felt halos buong game, maybe first hanggang third quarter, we struggled offensively,” said coach Goldwin Monteverde. “Good thing, especially in the fourth quarter, talagang nag step up ang defense namin. I thought Carl (Tamayo) played really good defense against Baltazar in the fourth.”

The Maroons prevailed despite Ricci Rivero going scoreless for the first time this season.

UP has extended its winning run against La Salle to five which dates back to 2018.

The scores:

First game

UP (61) — Lucero 21, Tamayo 9, Cansino 9, Spencer 7, Diouf 7, Cagulangan 5, Fortea 3, Rivero 0, Alarcon 0, Abadiano 0.
DLSU (59) — Baltazar 13, Nelle 13, Phillips M. 9, Nonoy 9, Winston 7, Nojera 3, Galman 3, Nwankwo 2, Austria 0, Phillips B. 0, Cuajao 0.
Quarterscores: 17-17, 32-35, 43-48, 61-59

Second game

NU (82) — Torres 12, Figueroa 11, Ildefonso 10, Joson 9, Yu 7, Clemente 6, Galinato 6, Enriquez 5, Minerva 4, Malonzo 4, Felicilda 2, Gaye 2, Mahinay 2, Flores 2, Manansala 0, Tibayan 0.
UST (51) — Cabañero 11, Concepcion 10, Manalang 8, Fontanilla 5, Garing 4, Herrera 3, Santos 2, Manaytay 2, M. Pangilinan 2, Mantua 2, Samudio 2, Ando 0, Canoy 0, Gomez de Liaño 0, Gesalem 0, Yongco 0.
Quarterscores: 16-13, 35-31, 60-40, 82-51

Third game

Ateneo (94) — Mamuyac 21, Kouame 21, Ildefonso 12, Belangel 12, Daves 6, Gomez 5, Tio 4, Koon 4, Chiu 4, Mendoza 3, Lazaro 2, Padrigao 0, Andrade 0, Mallillin 0.
UE (72) — K. Paranada 15, Pagsanjan 15, Escamis 8, N. Paranada 8, Guevarra 6, Antiporda 6, J. Cruz 4, Lorenzana 4, Catacutan 4, Beltran 2, Abatayo 0, Sawat 0, Villanueva 0, Tulabut 0, P. Cruz 0, Pascual 0.
Quarterscores: 15-15, 39-39, 65-55, 84-72

Games tomorrow

(Mall of Asia Arena)
10 a.m. – NU vs UE
1 p.m. – DLSU vs AdU
4 p.m. – Ateneo vs UST
7 p.m. – UP vs FEU